


Comforting, Magnanimous, and Other Things Leonard Snart Is Not

by Geekthefreakout



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Len is a softie, Minor Character Death, Minor Cisco Ramon/Lisa Snart, coldflash - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 06:16:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17420627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geekthefreakout/pseuds/Geekthefreakout
Summary: In which Len is in the neighborhood when Zoom kills Henry Allen, and in between that moment and Team Flash coming to get their hero, Barry needs something... and that something might just be Leonard Snart.





	Comforting, Magnanimous, and Other Things Leonard Snart Is Not

Once in a while, Len and Mick get tired of the heroic shenanigans and want to get back to their regular shenanigans, and honestly if they’ve gone weeks without a lead of Savage then they an just as easily wait for Rip to figure shit out at home as they can in the confines of the Waverider. 

So while Rip is angsting and calculating on the ship, Len is casually checking out a local jewelry store in the suburbs one evening. Window shopping, really, just from inside the store. He owes Lisa a pretty golden gift for going on time travelling adventures without her and dismantling the alarms had been child’s play. Suddenly, blue lightning streaks past him, and he swears, drawing himself against the wall of the shop as yellow lightning follows it. He stays alert, remembering the dark speedster, the monster that had dangled a broken Flash in front of all the news cameras (he’d been in prison at the time, but it had been on the news on the shitty TV in the rec room and while the other inmates were cheering and catcalling Len had pressed himself against a back wall, trying to remember how to breathe because this was never something he ever wanted to see). Abandoning the jewelry he’d been browsing, he kept watch, barely breathing. Minutes later, the lightning streaked past again, and then the yellow lightning, alone. Cautiously, Len locked the jewelry shop up behind him (he’d come back later) and took stock of where he was. Somewhere from within his memory, he realizes that this street was the street Barry Allen had grown up on, something he’d discovered when he was (stalking) researching his rival. 

He decides to follow the smell of ozone, the static of the lightning. He’s always been good at knowing where Barry is. Len’s heart grows heavier as his search leads him to a quaint house in the suburbs with its door wide open. Barry is in there, mask down, bent over a body. Len approaches cautiously, silently. Barry doesn’t notice, is sobbing over the body of- shit- his father. Some part of Len, a part that had grown quieter and quieter with every moment that Barry Allen was in his life, and quieter still as he’d traveled with the Legends, notes that in his current state, so oblivious to anything but his grief, killing Barry would be easy. Len pushes it down, but he does close the door behind him as he enters the house. No one else needs to see the Flash this vulnerable. 

“Barry.” Len murmurs as he tugs the door firmly shut. Barry’s tear stained face shoots up, and Len stands still as Barry takes in his presence. Then Barry sags, looking more defeated than before, folding more of himself over his dead father.

“Go away, Snart. I’m not… I can’t…” And Barry is lost in sobs again. Len moves cautiously around him, heading back towards the kitchen of the house- Barry’s old house, he recognizes now. That blue son of a bitch. There, on the kitchen floor, is another body- Len assumes the house’s current owner. He curses quietly to himself, and steps over it, pouring a glass of water and then stepping back out, tugging the kitchen door shut behind him. This is the last thing Barry needs to see.

He walks over to Barry, setting the glass of water on the coffee table in the living room, and places a hand on his back. Barry tenses, but doesn’t move or say anything else otherwise. Len coaxes him away from Doc Allen’s body, tugging him to the couch and pressing the water glass into his hands. Barry’s hands shake as he takes a sip. Len steadies the glass for him. Here, there is no Captain Cold, and no Flash, even if they are both “in uniform.” Barry chokes on another broken cry as he keeps staring at his dad and Len could never stand to see Lisa cry and its the same for Barry, apparently. Len tugs him close, lets Barry bury his face into the soft down of his parka, and lets the kid cry, running his gloved hands over Barry’s leather clad back. Tugging one of his gloves off with his teeth, Len pulls out his phone and shoots a text to Lisa, asking for Cisco’s number (he knows she has it, don’t even bother lying, this is sort of an emergency) and then, as Barry loses himself to exhaustion, he calls the number.

“Hello?!?” Cisco answers almost frantically.

“Hello, Cisco.” Len allows himself to drawl. 

“SNART?” Cisco balks, and Len sharply tells him not to hang up, because isn’t he wondering where his friend is right now? Cisco just barely calms himself enough to let Len give him the address (and Len can here West cursing in the background) and to explain that Doc Allen is dead on the floor of his former home, and that Barry needs more support than a super villain is really capable of giving him, and he will stay and keep watch in case Zoom tries to come back on the condition that West keep his cool (Cisco groans) and not arrest him on sight. Cisco agrees, then suspiciously asks why he’s being so helpful.

“I was in the neighborhood. Maybe I’m feeling magnanimous today.” Len replies before hanging up. He keeps one hand on Barry’s back and the other picks up the cold gun, training it on the door in case Zoom comes back. Barry is nearly asleep, but not quite, tears still leaking from heavy lidded eyes. “They’re coming for you, kid.” Len murmurs, and he knows that the way he holds the kid tight, lets him hide his face from the horror in the room, is more than a fleeting feeling of magnanimity, but he can examine that later. 

It’s a truce all around when Team Flash arrives, along with the West family (there’s a kid with them that Len doesn’t know, with wide, fresh eyes, but that’s not important right now). Len passes Barry off to Iris, who hugs him as tight as she had so many years ago when Nora Allen had died in this very same house, and Caitlin examines Henry for a minute before sadly backing away. She and Cisco cover Henry with a sheet, and Len tugs West aside.

“There’s another body in the kitchen.” he whispers to West. “The kid doesn’t need to see that. Don’t let him in there.” West stares at him for a long moment, and then nods.

“I don’t trust you, Snart.” The detective says, ever blunt. “But… thank you. For my boy.” Len nods, and seeing that everything is under control, prepares to make his exit. Before he leaves, he turns around, meeting Barry’s eyes, and addresses the room at large.

“There’s only room for one speedster in this city. When you’re ready to take this bastard out… let me know. You know where to find me.” He is quietly determined to not leave Central until this is dealt with. Time can wait. 

Barry nods at him over Iris’ shoulder, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. You’re pretty bad at being a villain this week. 

Len gets the message. He shrugs. After they bury Doc Allen, after they have that team up that Barry is always hounding him about, and after he gets back on the Waverider and helps Kendra kill Savage… he’ll rob a bank. Or a museum. Lisa can geld some statues, and Mick can burn something ugly. The Flash will chase them. Barry Allen will tell him that he’s better than all of it. Len will challenge Barry to a game of pool, and they can argue morals over that. Len’s always been a fan of the gray area. 

That’s where they operate. Shades of gray. And back to normal.

**Author's Note:**

> So... that just sort of happened. I post some more stuff in this general timeline, where Len is around, building up to ColdFlash but... this is the first time I've posted in years so we all know how bad I am at that. This can stand on its own anyway, I think.


End file.
